1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a method for designing an integrated circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for improving the distribution of electrical power and cooling capacity in a data processing environment by matching systems with power and thermal domains present in the data processing environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data processing environments often include multiple data processing systems. The data processing systems each have a need for electrical power for performing their respective functions. Heat is a byproduct of consuming electrical power to perform these functions.
A power domain is an electrical power distribution system under a computer system's control. The level of electrical power (power) provided by the power distribution system is typically controllable from an application executing in the computer system controlling the power domain or a different computer system.
A power domain can supply power to several data processing systems. Conversely, a data processing system can receive power from more than one power domain.
A thermal domain is analogous to a power domain except that instead of serving electrical power, a thermal domain serves cooling capacity under a computer system's control. For example, a thermal domain may include one or more heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units, under the control of a controller. An example of a thermal domain could be a fan zone inside a server such that the hardware in the zone is cooled by a particular fan or set of fans).
A thermal domain can supply cooling capacity, or maintain a desirable operating temperature, for several data processing systems. Conversely, a data processing system can receive the required amount of cooling from more than one thermal domain.